


Element Swap

by aggiepuff, Whedonista93



Series: Zutara Week 2018 [7]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Element Swap, F/M, Prompt Fic, Zutara Week, Zutara Week 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2019-06-22 01:54:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15571167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aggiepuff/pseuds/aggiepuff, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whedonista93/pseuds/Whedonista93
Summary: In which the Water Nation attacked...





	Element Swap

_Water… Earth… Fire… Air. Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when the Water Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them, But when the world needed him most, he vanished…_

 

Zuko tugs uncomfortably at the collar of his formal robes. “I still think this is crazy.”

Iroh bats his nephew’s hands away and smooths the shoulders of the robes. “It is an opportunity for peace.”

“Peace?” Zuko asks blandly. “With a bunch of warmongering tyrants?”

“Does your optimism know no bounds, Uncle?” Azula asks with thinly veiled amusement before wandering out of the room.

“I still don’t understand why I’m marrying Hakoda’s younger daughter when he has an older son. Wouldn’t it make more sense for Azula to marry him as the heir, or whatever?”

Iroh shakes his head. “Lady Katara _is_ the heir. She is the younger, yes, but her brother abdicated to maintain his position as general over their troops. And Lady Katara is a bender.”

Zuko’s head jerks up at that. “I thought the Southern Tribe didn’t have any benders left.”

“She is the last. And one of the most powerful I have ever seen.”

“You’ve met her?”

Iroh shakes his head. “I have seen her, though. At Ba Sing Se. The Water Nation would not have had victory over the Earth Kingdom without Lady Katara.”

“She’s that powerful?”

Iroh nods solemnly. “And then some.”

Zuko shuffles his feet nervously.

“I do not believe she is cruel, though, Zuko,” Iroh quickly reassures him. “I would never have agreed to this if I did.”

“She conquered Ba Sing Se almost single-handedly!” Zuko protests.

“She did,” Iroh agrees, “but there would have been many more deaths, on both sides, if she had not.”

Something in Iroh’s tone draws Zuko’s attention. “What do you know, Uncle?”

Iroh sits by the fire and motions Zuko to join him. “We cannot win, but joining with Lady Katara will end our losses.”

Zuko sits and looks at his uncle curiously.

Iroh takes a deep breath. “Lady Katara arranged this herself, through her brother, General Sokka. She is a formidable warrior, Prince Zuko, but she is compassionate. She is a healer, at heart, and has no desire for war to continue.”

“But, they’re winning… they’ve been winning for almost a century.”

Iroh shakes his head sadly. “Do you know why they attacked?”

Zuko shakes his head slowly.

“Because the Fire Nation was going to, and they heard of the plans. Sozin planned to dominate the world by using a comet that would amplify the powers of all firebenders. The Water Nation ruler at the time, from the Northern Tribe, thought they were better suited. After Ba Sing Se, Chief Hakoda of the Southern Tribe usurped the Northern throne. General Sokka shared with me that Hakoda did not have the heart to watch his daughter broken again like she was after Ba Sing Se.”

Zuko is silent as he lets all the new information sink in. Finally, he asks quietly, “They really want peace?”

Iroh nods. “Hakoda and his children are good people, with honest intentions, nephew. They will not treat you poorly.”

Zuko barks a laugh, sudden and harsh.

Iroh looks at him curiously.

“Can you imagine if my father were Firelord during all of this?”

Iroh brings his hand up to gently cup Zuko’s scarred cheek, and his lips quirk, but the brittle smile doesn’t reach his eyes. “The world would have burned.”

Zuko swallows thickly. “Yeah.”

 

Zuko does not see his new wife’s face until well after the festivities die down. Her face is covered in a heavy veil through the ceremony, and even heavier paint when she removes it.

When they arrive in Zuko’s chambers - and he’s still amazed that she had wanted to have the ceremony in the Fire Nation - she makes a beeline for the washroom door. When she reemerges, she’s wearing little more than a shift, her dark hair tumbles loosely down her back and over her shoulders. Her eyes, earlier shadowed by the veil and heavy makeup, are the most shocking shade of blue he’s ever seen. He stares until she smirks. Then he blushes and stutters as she laughs.

She comes toward him, stopping well within his space and smiles up at him. “I’d be worried if you didn’t look. We _did_ just get married.”

“You’re beautiful,” Zuko blurts.

Her smile softens into something more genuine. “Thank you. So are you.”

Zuko quirks an eyebrow and almost goes cross eyed trying to indicate his scar without moving his hands, which have somehow ended up on her waist.

Katara laughs again and brushes a hand lightly across his temple. “It adds character.”

Zuko, acting purely on instinct, lifts one hand to catch hers and press it against his face. “You aren’t what I expected.”

“What did you expect?”

He shrugs. “Most stories I’ve heard about you involve your victories in battle.”

She winces.

He squeezes her hand lightly. “It’s not a bad thing. I like strong women. I just… I didn’t dare hope for beauty and compassion as well.”

She looks up at him fondly. “You are.”

He quirks an eyebrow. “Hm?”

“What I expected,” she shrugs. “Your uncle speaks very highly of you.”

“He likes you, too,” Zuko grins. “You really want peace?”

Katara nods. “This is our ancestors’ war, not ours. My Nation… we only… we-”

“You only took over to prevent a worse power,” Zuko finishes for her.

“Yeah. I didn’t know if you’d know that.”

“I didn’t. My uncle just told me about it this afternoon.”

They spend several long minutes just staring at each other before they both realize what they’re doing and laugh at themselves.

“Do you want to… um,” Katara tilts her head back toward the bed over her shoulder with a slight blush.

Zuko flushes more than slightly. “We don’t have to, um, I don’t expect-”

Katara surges up and cuts him off with a kiss, made awkward by the fact that she’s laughing at the same time. She pulls back. “If you did expect it, I wouldn’t offer it.”

 

“What do you think you’re going to do?” Azula sneers. “You can’t just… give up the Water Nation’s power. It’ll lead to chaos.”

“Yes, it would,” Katara agrees, idly fiddling with a loose string on Zuko’s tunic from where she’s leaning over the back of his chair.

“So…” Azula drawls.

“So,” Katara smirks, “I have a secret weapon.”

“Okay, first of all, would you two _stop_?” Azula throws a balled up piece of parchment at them. “This was an arranged marriage. You guys aren’t supposed to actually like each other, much less be so sappy.”

Katara sticks her tongue out at her sister-in-law. Ruler of nations she may be, but she refuses to be mature all the time. She tried that when she was younger - it was exhausting.

Azula rolls her eyes. “Second of all. Secret weapon?”

Katara nods and moves around the chair to drop into Zuko’s lap. “Ever meet any Air Nomads?”

“The Water Nation wiped them out in hopes of avoiding the emergence of the next Avatar,” Azula remarks blandly.

Katara smiles. “Not so much. My ancestors - The Southern Water Tribe - made it look like we wiped them out. In reality, we hid them. We never wanted to take over the world, but at the time… well, we were the lesser of two evils and we knew the Avatar was the only way to restore the balance. But, before my ancestors could hide them, it was discovered that the next Avatar had run away and was lost in a storm. It took about 100 years, but… my brother and I found him, trapped in the ice, when we were kids. We travelled the nations with him, quietly, making friends and getting to know the world. My nation can’t restore the balance. But the Avatar can.”

Azula gapes at her. “No. I don’t believe you.”

“My Queen,” a servant calls from the doorway, “a guest.”

“Show him in,” Katara calls back.

Azula turns and gapes at the young man that enters. Tall, bald, tattooed, and carrying an odd staff, he would draw attention anyway, but the yellow robes… they seal the deal. Azula turns, slowly, back to Katara. “You’re messing with me.”

“Azula, meet Avatar Aang. Aang, meet Princess Azula.”


End file.
